1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to character input control equipment. More particularly, the present invention relates to character input control equipment to input characters which are displayed on a display screen, by using xe2x80x9csoftxe2x80x9d keys.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 6 shows an example of an array of a plurality of keys (hereafter called character input display field) which is displayed on the display in direct input mode for conventional character input control.
All alphabetical characters (A-Z) are arranged. Also a key to select lower case characters (small key) and an alphanumeric switching key (Ch/N) and other keys are also arranged. Using such key arrays, a player of a game machine inputs the name of a player, nickname of the operation target character of a match game, and other data according to the type of game.
When xe2x80x9cDREAMxe2x80x9d is input, for example, the cursor is moved to a plurality of key positions corresponding to xe2x80x9cDxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cRxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cExe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cAxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cMxe2x80x9d so as to be positioned at a predetermined position, and the enter key is instructed to complete the input of xe2x80x9cDREAMxe2x80x9d.
In recent game machines, on the other hand, program control enabling a match game with an opponent at a remote location or to enable conversations (chat) based on characters via communication lines is becoming possible.
In such a case, it is necessary for both players to input predetermined information prior to the start of the match game in order to communicate with the remote equipment. In the case of a chat via communication lines, characters must be input corresponding to the conversation.
Therefore when the above mentioned key array shown in FIG. 6 is used, the distance of cursor movement from a key position to be input to the next key position is large. For example, in order to input xe2x80x9cAxe2x80x9d after inputting xe2x80x9cPxe2x80x9d, it is necessary to move the character cursor from the character xe2x80x9cPxe2x80x9d position to the character xe2x80x9cAxe2x80x9d position by passing 13 character positions.
However, in the case of a match game or chat via communication lines, quick character input is desirable to minimize an unnecessary increase in connect charges.
With the foregoing in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide a character input control equipment which enables efficient key input while decreasing the moving distance of the cursor between key positions.
To achieve this object, character input control equipment according to the present invention includes character input display field display control means for displaying a plurality of character input display fields in a display part, cursor movement control means for specifying one character input display field out of the plurality of character input display fields displayed in the above display part by moving a cursor, and input character select means where a plurality of characters correspond to each one of the above plurality of character input display fields, and one character is selected out of the plurality of characters corresponding to one character input display field specified by the cursor movement control means.
An aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the movement of the cursor by the above cursor movement means and the selection of one character by the above input character select means are controlled according to control by a player.
Another aspect of the present invention is characterized in that a character input control equipment comprises character input display field display control means for displaying a plurality of character input display fields in a display part, cursor movement means for specifying one character input display field out of the plurality of character input display fields displayed in the display part by moving a cursor according to control by a player, and input character conversion means, where a first code and a plurality of second codes belonging to the first code correspond to each one of the above plurality of character input display fields, the first code and one second code out of the plurality of second codes belonging to the first code corresponding to one character input display field specified by the cursor movement means are selected, and the combination of the above specified first code and the selected code of the second codes is converted to a corresponding character.
Another aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the movement of the cursor by the cursor movement means and the selection of the above one second code are controlled according to control by a player.
The plurality of character input display fields displayed in the above display part are arranged such that one reference character input display field comes to the center, and the cursor is moved by the cursor movement means from the position of this one reference character input display field.
The present invention is characterized in that the above cursor movement means controls so as to return the cursor to the position of the above reference character input display field when the cursor movement from the position of the above one reference character input display field ends.
The present invention is also characterized in that the character type change means for changing the character type corresponding to the above plurality of character input display fields is included.
Other characteristics of the present invention will be clarified by the embodiments of the present invention, which will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.